Tree stands

[burmjohn]

Anyone build their own stands or use a pre-made one?

I'm more for the building your own because it allows you to really customize it to your needs.  And they are just more comfortable.  You just need to be careful when building them to allow movement and check them frequently for any loose boards / steps / railings.  I've been using band iron to allow for some flex in the floor boards rather then nailing them directly to the tree.  Its been working pretty well.

[JCTheGC]

If they are built right, and checked often they can be great.  Its what I use, I never likes the pre-manufactured ones.  Always small and uncomfortable, plus they are not to sturdy.

[burmjohn]

I'm going to do treated wood for my floor boards. I actually ordered some screw in type steps from cabella's so that should be a lot safer then screwing in steps.  I ordered a pack of 40 of them, so that should be good for at least 2 tree stands.  They screw in metal steps say then can hold up to 1000 lbs each (wow?).

Update these are them:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0004907416044a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=416044&Ntk=Product_liberal&sort=all&Go.y=6&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=15

[Doc]

Back a bunch of years ago when I was still hunting in the trees, a buddy from work and I started welding up some great semi-portable treestands. They worked great until I started to get this weird phobia about heights. So I gave all those away and built one wooden treestand down in the thicket in front of the house. I kept the height to 12' and made the platform 5' x 5' with a railing all the way around. The thing is made out of pressure treated 2 x 8's and fastened to the tree with heavily galvanized 5/8" lag bolts. I think the stand will still be there after the tree falls down and rots away..... lol. I still only use it a few times each season and mostly for gun season. This massive stand is the only one that I feel comfortable in anymore. It's kind of like a huge treehouse without walls or a roof. I always figured that I should finish it off with a roof and some partial walls so it would be weather-proof.

Doc

[burmjohn]

This sounds like something I'm going to do... How did you get the lag bolts in the tree? Or did you use lag screws?  The reason I suggested band iron is so the wood could have a little movement and not crack the wood when the tree moves / grows.

[Doc]

My mistake. I meant to say lag screws.

The tree I used was a huge willow with several trunks. Being so close to the ground with my stand means that in heavy winds there is not much movement from one trunk to the other. This is something I found was very important years ago. When using multi-trunked trees, I found that wind could move one trunk relative to another with a force that no nails could resist. Every year I would have to re-nail. I'm not sure whether the same problem would occur with these huge lag-screws, but relative motion due to wind is something I am always mindful of.

Doc

[burmjohn]

When scouting my property (we only have had it for a few months now) it seemed all the places where I wanted a tree stand, I couldn't find a nice group of trees.  So I am not sure what I am going to do, I'm sure once I get up there again with the actual wood in my hands I'll find a good spot.  The tree stand I have on my uncles property is about 25 feet up, and its a 3 tree grouping.  When the winds blow you move with the wind, its pretty scary, but a solid stand because of that band iron.

[Doc]

Try to work on a design that cantilevers the stand off a single trunk like the commercial stands. As I said, years ago we came up with a welded up steel design that worked out real good and was designed to attach to a single trunk. We used a system of jack-screws working against a chain. I believe that a similar design could have been made out of wood. I probably wouldn't have as much faith in a wooden version a I did in those steel ones, but the design for a permanent wooden stand would be a lot simpler than what we had with our home-made semi-portables.

At any rate ...... good luck. Spend a bit of time working with a pencil and paper and I'm sure you can come up with something that doesn't need multiple trees/trunks. Just remember to "over-build" whatever you put up ....... safety first.

Doc

[Doc]

I got an idea ....... Take the camera along and get some pictures of the stands when they are done and the shooting lanes. That'll be pretty darn interesting.

Doc

[burmjohn]

Yeah for sure, I am a camera nut anyways.  I always have it with me.

[NYBowhunter]

I have a couple pressure treated wood stands that are great and I also have a couple double ladder stands that I love as well. We also have one of those fully enclosed molded treestands that is awsome, that is for my dad and you can see a glimpse of that stand in the deer pictures in the clover field that I sent in my other post. Now that fully enclosed stand is the cadilac of all treestands.

[burmjohn]

Never was a fan of the ladder stands due to the lack of room, but that molded stand, that looks sick. I was gonna ask you about that when I saw those trail cam pics.  My old man has plans for a stand like that but treated wood. 

I found some pics of my stand on my uncles property... I love it, its huge, pretty safe.  I have two sets of railings, so its save to sit and lean back on the tree where you see my gun.  Two people could be up there comfortably.  We re-built it one time, as you can see the old platform below the existing one.  Its about 25 feet high.  I am going to find a nice set of three tree's on my property to do something similar, but not as high.  And since its my own place, it will be done a lot nicer and cleaner.  I also bought a burlap type blind material to attach to the sides from cabelas last week with those steps I bought.

[A6A6]

hey guys.

i had a homemade treestand on a friends property a while back .

i used burlap and stapled it to the hand rail for some stealth and after one season the wind, birds , coons and weather destroyed the burlap.

so what i did was i took some parachute rope and tied it tight from limb to limb between the 3 tree's and made a sort of "curtain rod".

then looped a few zip-ties around the string and thru the burlap leaving enough material around the string to keep the burlap strong and not able to fray and slid the burlap to the tree limb and rolled it and  wrapped a bungee around it when not using the stand.

if your handrail/shooting rail is at a perfect height then try to make the curtain rod an inch below it so you dont tug the line while your resting your gun on it.

just a lil thing that worked for me.

good luck.

its still up and wrapped around the tree in good condition. 3 years.

and check those nails in the 2x4's  going up your stand. the tree grows but the nail stays in place and sinks into the 2x4.

[Doc]

Never was a fan of the ladder stands due to the lack of room, but that molded stand, that looks sick. I was gonna ask you about that when I saw those trail cam pics.  My old man has plans for a stand like that but treated wood. 

I found some pics of my stand on my uncles property... I love it, its huge, pretty safe.  I have two sets of railings, so its save to sit and lean back on the tree where you see my gun.  Two people could be up there comfortably.  We re-built it one time, as you can see the old platform below the existing one.  Its about 25 feet high.  I am going to find a nice set of three tree's on my property to do something similar, but not as high.  And since its my own place, it will be done a lot nicer and cleaner.  I also bought a burlap type blind material to attach to the sides from cabelas last week with those steps I bought.

Now there is a stand that I could get along with. Love those railings!

Doc

[NYBowhunter]

Nice treestand you have there burmjohn, lots of room. I have one similar to that one. The ladder stands I have are the two man type and are very sturdy and I can bow hunt out of them with no problem. Yeah that molded treestand you see in the trail cam pictures is awsome. We bought that for my dad as the weather was getting to him, I hunted out of that during muzzelaoder and it makes a  huge difference from being outside.It has four windows and if fully enclosed and we put carpet down on the mesh floor. That stand will be great when my kids get a little older and decide to tag along. Heres a picture of the stand from last year when we had it more in the open, now it sits back on the field edge tucked under a huge pine tree.

[burmjohn]

Your trail cam pics are amazing.  Ever get any yotes or bear on them?

[NYBowhunter]

Thanks, learned how to place the cameras by trial and error. The key is to place the camera at waist height and not facing directly in the sun. And always remove any weeds from in front of the camera that might set it off. If there is elevation ,then you will need to adjust the height of the camera accordingly. Also never place camera directly facing a trail, but either facing to or away from the trail to be able to catch the animals within the full frame which allows your triggerspeed to be more effective and not to miss pictures. No bear (not many in my area), but I have gotten pictures of raccoon, fox, coyote, turkey, grouse, rabbits 

[burmjohn]

I took a long look at some of the tree stands online... None of them really look that great, they all seem so small.  I wouldnt mind getting one to have in addition to the ones I'll build.  Any suggestions?

[fasteddie]

Here is a treestand on my son's property . It's 6' X 7' with plenty of height to stand up . It's around 18 feet high between 2 oaks and has 3 drop down windows .

[Fantail]

I built one and have plans for another. I use a pair of 8' 4x4's and join them together with some 2x4's on each side and use lag screws. For one I built a platform ontop of it that worked well last season*. I use screw in steps. I also use a concrete deck block on the ground to help secure it. Secured to the tree by a chain hooked into a hook screw on each end of the platform, and one of those deals thaty you turn and it tightens each end of the chain. You can also use this idea as a climber stick for a hang on. Heres some pics of it disassembled.

*except for sub freezing temps, the wood platform creeked.

[burmjohn]

Here is a treestand on my son's property . It's 6' X 7' with plenty of height to stand up . It's around 18 feet high between 2 oaks and has 3 drop down windows .

Wow that looks like a tree house

[landtracdeerhunter]

I'm looking to build a wood treestand. Know it's a little late in the year, but I have a great spot that has had 2 ladder stands stolen out of this year. Next step is a fixed wood stand.Maybe deter the party responsible. I know some of the members have posted some of their homemade stands which looked really great. If u have some old pics of some homemade stands, please post them to give me some options. I respect your comments too. Oh, and I have a Maple tree about 18" on the butt, can be used to attach. Thanks.

Edited November 24, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[growalot]

This is the stand I took my buck out of..plus many other 8's and 7'sand lots of doe.....comfy sitting...took two of us a truck and tractor to stand up...a tad heavy and many years old

Edited November 24, 2012 by growalot

[landtracdeerhunter]

Thanks for the pics grow. Hope that wasn't this years snow, LOL. Do u find the slanting ladder is a little easier to climb verses the vertical one. Didn't u make one out of a plastic commercial pallet?

[Five Seasons]

i've never understood the huge tree forts. if comfort is an issue then buy a gorilla stand and be done with it. but then again i dont even like ladder stands. the less you stick out the better imo.